108-year-old WWII veteran gets Super Bowl tickets

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

NEW ORLEANS, La. —WWII veteran and New Orleans Saints fan Lawrence Brooks celebrated his 108th birthday at the National WWII Museum a few months ago, and now he’s headed to Minneapolis for the Super Bowl.

Saints player and Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee Cam Jordan presented the Super Bowl tickets to Mr. Brooks via a Facetime call recorded and posted on the Saints Facebook page, according to WGNO.

As you can see in the video below, Mr. Brooks is still going strong as a Centenarian.

Brooks was born Sept. 12, 1909 and served in the predominantly African-American 91st Engineer Battalion, which was stationed in New Guinea and then the Philippines during World War II.

He was a servant to three white officers in his battalion. His daily routine included cleaning the officers’ sheets, shining their shoes, making sure their uniforms were clean and accomplishing any task these officers asked of him.

Brooks attained the rank of Private 1st Class during the war. He was married to the late Leona B. Brooks, and is the father of five children and five step-children. He is one of the oldest surviving veterans in the region.

Brooks, who worked as a forklift operator until he retired in 1974, was 95 years old when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. He and his wife had to be rescued from their roof by helicopter.